I'm back, with lots of fandom talk!
I cannot believe how long it's been since I posted here. (Two months, I believe?) And just when I had made lots of new friends, too! ;w; I'm so sorry, guys. But I'm back! And oh man... I have so much to talk about, real life and fandom wise.
❖ Christmas: I spent Christmas in Scotland, at Andrew's house. It was pretty awesome! It snowed and Andrew's parents got me presents, much to my surprise (I haven't been receiving presents from my parents in recent years, so...), which included a stuffed lion (which I have named Aslan ♥), a tea-bags container and some creams for lips. Andrew also got me some volumes of the Sailor Moon manga, which is amazing. Andrew and his sister got all kinds of presents, including the video game Lego Lord of the Rings. I've played it with Andrew and it's freaking AWESOME. It makes me want to watch/read Lord of the Rings like crazy.
Also, I cooked for everyone! I talked to Andrew's parents about what we eat for Christmas in south Italy (seafood, spaghetti, prawns, etc.) and they really liked the idea and decided to do a southern-Italian Christmas! I knew the recipes, so I cooked for everybody (a total of five people). It was my first time cooking Christmas dinner and also my first time cooking for so many people and it turned out great! Andrew and his family loved it and I was really happy they did.
❖ Regarding my health, I'm much better now. I've been taking medications for about two months and I feel way less nauseous than I did months ago. So yeah, as long as I take the medicine, everything seems to be okay. I also relaxed a lot during the Christmas holidays and feel like I have way more energy than I did before.
❖ University has started again (I'm on my second week of semester 2) and I can say for sure that I love my timetable. All the lectures are from Monday to Wednesday, which means that, unless I have tutorials, Thursdays and Fridays are completely free! So I get sort of a four-days long weekend on certain weeks, which is amazing. Of course I will be mostly studying on those days, but it's still awesome.
Now, onto fandoms. Also, on a side note: I'm so excited to be into reading again! I forgot how awesome it was to be into a story and wanting to know what happened and not being able to put the book (or the ereader, in my case) down and wanting to read every minute... it's an amazing, amazing feeling. So, expect lots of book talks/reviews from me in the future!
❖ I finished reading Mockingjay a couple of months ago, so I'm officially finished with The Hunger Games. And let me tell you: I was so happy when I finished Mockingjay, because I could finally move on and read something else! XD It was seriously hard to read. As I've said before, I really only kept reading to know what happened to Peeta. I'm glad Peeta and Katniss ended up together, but it didn't really have any major impact on me. I could... sort of see it coming? I don't know, all I felt when I finished reading was, '... yeah... it's ended. ... Now, what should I read next?'. I guess it was such a difficult book to read (it was boring, nothing much was happening, etc.) that it made me care less about all the characters (except Peeta) and by the end I was really only reading so I could say I finished it (I could never stop reading a book halfway through... or at least I have yet to find one that it's so bad I can't even finish reading).
So yeah... what did I think of the ending? It was... alright, I guess. I was really frustrated that the book was in Katniss's POV, because most of the awesome stuff seemed to be happening when she was unconscious or doing something else. And by 'awesome' stuff I don't mean explosions or action-y stuff like that - I mean more the political side of The Hunger Games. I mean, this is a book series where people are pretty much oppressed by the government, unless they happen to be born on the right District or in the Capitol itself; there are extremely rich people and extremely poor people, who can't even afford to eat; and it's obvious the government plays a major part in it - they organize the Games, they make sure people don't rebel, they keep everything and everyone under control - and they do this with a smile on their faces. There's so much you can do with such a political setting, and so much you can tell us about it. For instance, how did it happen? Did somebody have an idea for the perfect government which then became corrupted and cruel because of people wanting power, or did they realise they had to be super severe with the people to start with or they wouldn't be able to survive? And the rebels themselves, what are they going to do once they kill the President? What government is going to rise from the ashes of this one? Towards the end Mockingjay sort of started exploring these points (when the general of the rebels says they should have a Game with the kids of the Capitol and Katniss sees that if she allows it, then nothing really has changed, etc.), but didn't go into them in depth. That's what I was expecting from this book. You've written two entire books about Katniss being in the Games - now that she's out, it's the perfect opportunity to talk about the political environment of these books! But no, it didn't do that. Maybe that's why I didn't care about the war and who won - if I don't know anything about the people they're fighting (except they're rich and 'bad'), then how can I care?
I guess Mockingjay disappointed me as a book, because I wanted to read about the political situation of Panem a bit, instead of having to read some 'omg!!!111!! super special awesome action sequences with bombs and explosions!!11!!1' which mostly bored me. But I understand - it's teenage fiction, it's mostly about a girl trying to survive and sometimes having boy problems. Oh and, btw, the teenage angst was just hilarious and a bit ridiculous at times. I get it, Katniss doesn't know who she loves and every reader (supposedly) enjoys a love triangle - but the scenes about Katniss, Gale and Peeta angsting about their feelings felt like they really came out of nowhere (they really were there to remind you that there's a love triangle going on) and were misplaced across the book. Guys, THERE IS A WAR GOING ON. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're in the middle of a freaking war. W-A-R. I think your teenage drama can wait after the end of the war, don't you think? At least wait for a time where there's no threat of being killed at any moment. Seriously.
Anyway. My final thoughts on the series: it's good, but it could have been better (and I'm talking especially about Mockingjay here). For teenage fiction, it's okay. Way better than Twilight, at least.
❖ Now, onto the other books I've read! Let's see (please beware of spoilers!):
- The Constant Gardener (John le Carré): This was suggested to me by Andrew. It was alright. It was the kind of story that could have kept me 'on the edge of my seat', so to speak, but... it didn't. I guess it's because I didn't like the characters, except Justin and Gloria (who was a minor character). The ending also kind of disappointed me. It didn't really make an impact on me (much like Mockingjay), so it's hard to say whether I liked it or not. I guess it's okay.
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis): Loved it! It is a story influenced by Christianity a bit (and I know it was done on purpose), but man, I loved it. My eyes filled with tears when Aslan was killed. It just... described so well all the cruel things they were doing to him and just... damn. I LOVE ASLAN, OKAY. He's one of the most awesome book characters I've ever seen. And the kids! I love all of them. So many likeable characters and such an awesome story.
- Prince Caspian (C. S. Lewis): Yeah, I want to read all the Chronicles of Narnia books. XD There's really nothing much to say about this one, except that I enjoyed it, too. I love the way C. S. Lewis writes.
- The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis): I'm only halfway through this one, but I'll be finishing it soon! I think I like it. It's different from the other two books and I still have to finish it, so it's early to say what I think about it. But so far, I've enjoyed it.
- 1984 (George Orwell): BRILLIANT. I. FREAKING. LOVE IT. It is an amazing book and George Orwell writes so well! I couldn't stop myself from reading this. I finished it in two days and I just had to read it constantly. Everything in the book is explained so well and you really feel like you're getting it, but I'm sure that, if I read it again, something else that I haven't noticed will pop up and it always will with every read. But it's really a book that leaves you satisfied with what you've read. I guess this is what I wanted Mockingjay to be. One of the best reads of my life. I highly, highly recommend it.
- Animal Farm (George Orwell): Yes, well, I had to read this one, too, after 1984. What can I say. INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT. I might like it even more than 1984. The ending, it's just... ahhhh, so brilliant. It's so sad, it's literally like a slap in the face. But it's an awesome, awesome book about politics and totalitarianism. Do read it if you get the chance. It's also very short, I basically read it in a couple of hours. It's not connected in any way to 1984, you can read it on its own. It's just about the same topic. I will be re-reading this and 1984 in the future, that's for sure.
- Northern Lights (also called The Golden Compass) (Philip Pullman): YES, I AM READING HIS DARK MATERIALS. FINALLY. I'm halfway through the first book and wow, I'm loving every second I spend reading it. I watched the movie some years ago, so I sort of know what happens, but I can't remember it very well because it's been years since I watched it. Anyway, it's awesome. I'm really interested in what happens and the world of this book is so cool. I'm enjoying it so much, it's not even real.
As you can see, I'm reading way more now that I have an ereader than before. I am so happy about this! Also, I've made a list of books on my ereader that I really want to read in the near future and it has about 60 books in it. It would be awesome if I could read them all this year! So my challenge for this year is to read those 60 books (or at least as many from that list as possible)! :)
❖ And now, movies:
- The Social Network: Awesome. I hate Facebook with a passion, but man, this movie was great. I was really interested in everything that was happening and at the end I was like, '... what? That's the end?!' simply because I didn't want it to finish, haha. I really didn't feel like I was watching a movie, I was so captivated by the plot. Great job!
- Juno: I know people love this movie... I thought it was alright. Ellen Page was seriously getting on my nerves though. The way she spoke was irritating. I think Jennifer Garner saved the movie. I didn't care about Juno herself, but I was really into Jennifer Garner's character and story. Overall, I think it's okay but not that great.
- To Rome with Love: Awesome film by Woody Allen. I love that half the film was in Italian and it really made me miss Italy. I also loved the Italian actors in it. And Jesse Eisenberg was amazing. Loved this movie.
- Superbad: I don't know if anyone on my f-list likes this film, but... I thought Superbad was true to its title. Superbad was really a super bad movie. I admit it's not my kind of movie and it's probably the reason why I didn't like it. I'm just so sick and tired of all these 'comedies' about teenagers/geeks/losers/whatever that desperately want to get laid and end up getting drunk/high/into trouble/whatever. It's an overdone movie formula and the intent of every film is to be more and more ridiculous... which, imo, results in the film just being plain pathetic. But that's just my opinion.
- Adventureland: I saw Adventureland before I saw Superbad and I was so surprised to see that the people who directed Superbad directed this film. Because I think this film is really good. It's a coming of age story and it's done really well. The actors are great (Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds in the same film? Too much eye-candy to pass up!), except for Kristen Stewart, who, quite frankly... just CAN'T act. There was no difference between the way she portrayed her character in Adventureland and Bella Swan from Twilight. Literally no difference. Same blank expressions, same emotionless acting... I have no idea why she was cast and I think it was a major mistake. She didn't ruin the film too much, it was still enjoyable (Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds made up for her bad acting), but I really think they should have cast someone else, someone who can actually deliver some emotion to the audience. Again, that's just my opinion.
- The Squid and the Whale + The Emperor's Club: They're not really well-known films, so I'm putting them together. I must admit, the only reason I watched them was because Jesse Eisenberg was in them, but I actually found myself liking these two movies and getting into the plots. The Squid and the Whale was weird at times, but overall I think it managed to convey the emotions that all the characters were going through. As for the Emperor's Club, it's really a lovely film. It kind of reminds me of Dead Poets' Society, but it's not a rip-off, it has its own identity as a film.
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Oh man... I really thought I was going to like this film, but I just... can't. There are so many plot-holes in this film and things that just seem totally OOC. Now, I don't read the comics and I'm not a Spiderman fan... but I wasn't a Batman fan either until I saw Nolan's movies, so I thought I'd give Spiderman a chance. I was really disappointed at this film. I can't remember the original Spiderman film so well, so I won't do a comparison... but even without doing a comparison, this film is still pretty bad on its own. And it's such a shame. It felt like it was really trying to be like Nolan's Batman movies, but it just... failed. The plot-holes and OOC-ness of the characters didn't help, either.
And that's pretty much it. As you can see I really wanted to see some movies with Jesse Eisenberg in them... yay for celebrity crush!
So yeah... it seems I've rediscovered also my love for films! :D Next films on my list are Inception, Equilibrium, The Dark Knight Rises... and possibly a few more.
Well, that was quite a long entry! But anyway, I hope you guys are doing great! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://chibichan.dreamwidth.org/64575.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
❖ Christmas: I spent Christmas in Scotland, at Andrew's house. It was pretty awesome! It snowed and Andrew's parents got me presents, much to my surprise (I haven't been receiving presents from my parents in recent years, so...), which included a stuffed lion (which I have named Aslan ♥), a tea-bags container and some creams for lips. Andrew also got me some volumes of the Sailor Moon manga, which is amazing. Andrew and his sister got all kinds of presents, including the video game Lego Lord of the Rings. I've played it with Andrew and it's freaking AWESOME. It makes me want to watch/read Lord of the Rings like crazy.
Also, I cooked for everyone! I talked to Andrew's parents about what we eat for Christmas in south Italy (seafood, spaghetti, prawns, etc.) and they really liked the idea and decided to do a southern-Italian Christmas! I knew the recipes, so I cooked for everybody (a total of five people). It was my first time cooking Christmas dinner and also my first time cooking for so many people and it turned out great! Andrew and his family loved it and I was really happy they did.
❖ Regarding my health, I'm much better now. I've been taking medications for about two months and I feel way less nauseous than I did months ago. So yeah, as long as I take the medicine, everything seems to be okay. I also relaxed a lot during the Christmas holidays and feel like I have way more energy than I did before.
❖ University has started again (I'm on my second week of semester 2) and I can say for sure that I love my timetable. All the lectures are from Monday to Wednesday, which means that, unless I have tutorials, Thursdays and Fridays are completely free! So I get sort of a four-days long weekend on certain weeks, which is amazing. Of course I will be mostly studying on those days, but it's still awesome.
Now, onto fandoms. Also, on a side note: I'm so excited to be into reading again! I forgot how awesome it was to be into a story and wanting to know what happened and not being able to put the book (or the ereader, in my case) down and wanting to read every minute... it's an amazing, amazing feeling. So, expect lots of book talks/reviews from me in the future!
❖ I finished reading Mockingjay a couple of months ago, so I'm officially finished with The Hunger Games. And let me tell you: I was so happy when I finished Mockingjay, because I could finally move on and read something else! XD It was seriously hard to read. As I've said before, I really only kept reading to know what happened to Peeta. I'm glad Peeta and Katniss ended up together, but it didn't really have any major impact on me. I could... sort of see it coming? I don't know, all I felt when I finished reading was, '... yeah... it's ended. ... Now, what should I read next?'. I guess it was such a difficult book to read (it was boring, nothing much was happening, etc.) that it made me care less about all the characters (except Peeta) and by the end I was really only reading so I could say I finished it (I could never stop reading a book halfway through... or at least I have yet to find one that it's so bad I can't even finish reading).
So yeah... what did I think of the ending? It was... alright, I guess. I was really frustrated that the book was in Katniss's POV, because most of the awesome stuff seemed to be happening when she was unconscious or doing something else. And by 'awesome' stuff I don't mean explosions or action-y stuff like that - I mean more the political side of The Hunger Games. I mean, this is a book series where people are pretty much oppressed by the government, unless they happen to be born on the right District or in the Capitol itself; there are extremely rich people and extremely poor people, who can't even afford to eat; and it's obvious the government plays a major part in it - they organize the Games, they make sure people don't rebel, they keep everything and everyone under control - and they do this with a smile on their faces. There's so much you can do with such a political setting, and so much you can tell us about it. For instance, how did it happen? Did somebody have an idea for the perfect government which then became corrupted and cruel because of people wanting power, or did they realise they had to be super severe with the people to start with or they wouldn't be able to survive? And the rebels themselves, what are they going to do once they kill the President? What government is going to rise from the ashes of this one? Towards the end Mockingjay sort of started exploring these points (when the general of the rebels says they should have a Game with the kids of the Capitol and Katniss sees that if she allows it, then nothing really has changed, etc.), but didn't go into them in depth. That's what I was expecting from this book. You've written two entire books about Katniss being in the Games - now that she's out, it's the perfect opportunity to talk about the political environment of these books! But no, it didn't do that. Maybe that's why I didn't care about the war and who won - if I don't know anything about the people they're fighting (except they're rich and 'bad'), then how can I care?
I guess Mockingjay disappointed me as a book, because I wanted to read about the political situation of Panem a bit, instead of having to read some 'omg!!!111!! super special awesome action sequences with bombs and explosions!!11!!1' which mostly bored me. But I understand - it's teenage fiction, it's mostly about a girl trying to survive and sometimes having boy problems. Oh and, btw, the teenage angst was just hilarious and a bit ridiculous at times. I get it, Katniss doesn't know who she loves and every reader (supposedly) enjoys a love triangle - but the scenes about Katniss, Gale and Peeta angsting about their feelings felt like they really came out of nowhere (they really were there to remind you that there's a love triangle going on) and were misplaced across the book. Guys, THERE IS A WAR GOING ON. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're in the middle of a freaking war. W-A-R. I think your teenage drama can wait after the end of the war, don't you think? At least wait for a time where there's no threat of being killed at any moment. Seriously.
Anyway. My final thoughts on the series: it's good, but it could have been better (and I'm talking especially about Mockingjay here). For teenage fiction, it's okay. Way better than Twilight, at least.
❖ Now, onto the other books I've read! Let's see (please beware of spoilers!):
- The Constant Gardener (John le Carré): This was suggested to me by Andrew. It was alright. It was the kind of story that could have kept me 'on the edge of my seat', so to speak, but... it didn't. I guess it's because I didn't like the characters, except Justin and Gloria (who was a minor character). The ending also kind of disappointed me. It didn't really make an impact on me (much like Mockingjay), so it's hard to say whether I liked it or not. I guess it's okay.
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis): Loved it! It is a story influenced by Christianity a bit (and I know it was done on purpose), but man, I loved it. My eyes filled with tears when Aslan was killed. It just... described so well all the cruel things they were doing to him and just... damn. I LOVE ASLAN, OKAY. He's one of the most awesome book characters I've ever seen. And the kids! I love all of them. So many likeable characters and such an awesome story.
- Prince Caspian (C. S. Lewis): Yeah, I want to read all the Chronicles of Narnia books. XD There's really nothing much to say about this one, except that I enjoyed it, too. I love the way C. S. Lewis writes.
- The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis): I'm only halfway through this one, but I'll be finishing it soon! I think I like it. It's different from the other two books and I still have to finish it, so it's early to say what I think about it. But so far, I've enjoyed it.
- 1984 (George Orwell): BRILLIANT. I. FREAKING. LOVE IT. It is an amazing book and George Orwell writes so well! I couldn't stop myself from reading this. I finished it in two days and I just had to read it constantly. Everything in the book is explained so well and you really feel like you're getting it, but I'm sure that, if I read it again, something else that I haven't noticed will pop up and it always will with every read. But it's really a book that leaves you satisfied with what you've read. I guess this is what I wanted Mockingjay to be. One of the best reads of my life. I highly, highly recommend it.
- Animal Farm (George Orwell): Yes, well, I had to read this one, too, after 1984. What can I say. INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT. I might like it even more than 1984. The ending, it's just... ahhhh, so brilliant. It's so sad, it's literally like a slap in the face. But it's an awesome, awesome book about politics and totalitarianism. Do read it if you get the chance. It's also very short, I basically read it in a couple of hours. It's not connected in any way to 1984, you can read it on its own. It's just about the same topic. I will be re-reading this and 1984 in the future, that's for sure.
- Northern Lights (also called The Golden Compass) (Philip Pullman): YES, I AM READING HIS DARK MATERIALS. FINALLY. I'm halfway through the first book and wow, I'm loving every second I spend reading it. I watched the movie some years ago, so I sort of know what happens, but I can't remember it very well because it's been years since I watched it. Anyway, it's awesome. I'm really interested in what happens and the world of this book is so cool. I'm enjoying it so much, it's not even real.
As you can see, I'm reading way more now that I have an ereader than before. I am so happy about this! Also, I've made a list of books on my ereader that I really want to read in the near future and it has about 60 books in it. It would be awesome if I could read them all this year! So my challenge for this year is to read those 60 books (or at least as many from that list as possible)! :)
❖ And now, movies:
- The Social Network: Awesome. I hate Facebook with a passion, but man, this movie was great. I was really interested in everything that was happening and at the end I was like, '... what? That's the end?!' simply because I didn't want it to finish, haha. I really didn't feel like I was watching a movie, I was so captivated by the plot. Great job!
- Juno: I know people love this movie... I thought it was alright. Ellen Page was seriously getting on my nerves though. The way she spoke was irritating. I think Jennifer Garner saved the movie. I didn't care about Juno herself, but I was really into Jennifer Garner's character and story. Overall, I think it's okay but not that great.
- To Rome with Love: Awesome film by Woody Allen. I love that half the film was in Italian and it really made me miss Italy. I also loved the Italian actors in it. And Jesse Eisenberg was amazing. Loved this movie.
- Superbad: I don't know if anyone on my f-list likes this film, but... I thought Superbad was true to its title. Superbad was really a super bad movie. I admit it's not my kind of movie and it's probably the reason why I didn't like it. I'm just so sick and tired of all these 'comedies' about teenagers/geeks/losers/whatever that desperately want to get laid and end up getting drunk/high/into trouble/whatever. It's an overdone movie formula and the intent of every film is to be more and more ridiculous... which, imo, results in the film just being plain pathetic. But that's just my opinion.
- Adventureland: I saw Adventureland before I saw Superbad and I was so surprised to see that the people who directed Superbad directed this film. Because I think this film is really good. It's a coming of age story and it's done really well. The actors are great (Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds in the same film? Too much eye-candy to pass up!), except for Kristen Stewart, who, quite frankly... just CAN'T act. There was no difference between the way she portrayed her character in Adventureland and Bella Swan from Twilight. Literally no difference. Same blank expressions, same emotionless acting... I have no idea why she was cast and I think it was a major mistake. She didn't ruin the film too much, it was still enjoyable (Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds made up for her bad acting), but I really think they should have cast someone else, someone who can actually deliver some emotion to the audience. Again, that's just my opinion.
- The Squid and the Whale + The Emperor's Club: They're not really well-known films, so I'm putting them together. I must admit, the only reason I watched them was because Jesse Eisenberg was in them, but I actually found myself liking these two movies and getting into the plots. The Squid and the Whale was weird at times, but overall I think it managed to convey the emotions that all the characters were going through. As for the Emperor's Club, it's really a lovely film. It kind of reminds me of Dead Poets' Society, but it's not a rip-off, it has its own identity as a film.
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Oh man... I really thought I was going to like this film, but I just... can't. There are so many plot-holes in this film and things that just seem totally OOC. Now, I don't read the comics and I'm not a Spiderman fan... but I wasn't a Batman fan either until I saw Nolan's movies, so I thought I'd give Spiderman a chance. I was really disappointed at this film. I can't remember the original Spiderman film so well, so I won't do a comparison... but even without doing a comparison, this film is still pretty bad on its own. And it's such a shame. It felt like it was really trying to be like Nolan's Batman movies, but it just... failed. The plot-holes and OOC-ness of the characters didn't help, either.
And that's pretty much it. As you can see I really wanted to see some movies with Jesse Eisenberg in them... yay for celebrity crush!
So yeah... it seems I've rediscovered also my love for films! :D Next films on my list are Inception, Equilibrium, The Dark Knight Rises... and possibly a few more.
Well, that was quite a long entry! But anyway, I hope you guys are doing great! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://chibichan.dreamwidth.org/64575.html. Please comment there using OpenID.